Sunday, February 26, 2012

So we know stripes are “in” this year, right? We are all about stripes around the farm too. You know watermelons have stripes, but we have another kind of stripes too.

Sometimes we don’t have time, but this year we have planted rye grass in the harvest middles of the watermelon fields. (The harvest middles are the spaces left every three rows for the crews to drive the buses down during harvest.) This tells you how much planning goes into watermelons (and farming in general) because rye grass planting happens during the winter when it’s cold.

By planting time, the rye will be tall and will serve as a wind breaker and sand stopper. It protects the baby watermelons from getting sand-blasted by the wind, which can severely stunt their growth.

So when you buy your next striped garment to go along with this year’s trends, you can think about the importance of our watermelon stripes!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

You know there aren’t many things in life that are free. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can get free books for your little ones! (Or if you get really crazy you can donate to help others get free books, too!) You say, What?! There must be a catch. I thought the same thing!

In Georgia, the Ferst Foundation is partnered with Dolly’s Imagination Library to provide books to children in many counties. We were introduced to Dolly’s library and the Ferst Foundation through Georgia PINES, an organization for kids with hearing and/or vision loss. They have been awesome for us! We actually don’t have the Imagination Library in our county, but we enrolled Blair through Georgia PINES and have been getting books for well over a year now.

We have gotten some really good books. They are high quality books, and many of them are classics.

We love Llama Llama! Read to Tiger is really cute too.

One of mommy’s favorites. Probably has something to do with my love for Spain….

The books are printed especially for the program, so they all have a picture of Dolly Parton on them. Blair says, “There’s Miss Dolly!”

Dolly’s Imagination Library program extends nationwide and to Canada, so check to see if you can enroll your little ones! Or, you can donate to support the program or start a program in your area! Georgia has an especially huge program with Dolly’s library, as does Tennessee. Georgia folks can check the here to see if you are in an area served, or anyone can check the Imagination Library registration page to see if there is a program in your area. If not, they will give you information on how to start one! (FYI: Child registration closes the first of the month for book mailings, so if it’s closed check back.)

Saturday, February 4, 2012

I usually have lots of patience. I taught high school. I had to have lots of patience. And I do. But when it comes to babies, not so much.

I called and made a last minute appointment for an early ultrasound at the same place we went when I was pregnant with Blair. I only had another week to wait to find out what we were having, but my doctor’s machine is so old, I decided to go ahead and get a good ultrasound with some good pictures! I might as well since I had one with Blair. We want everything to be fair, right?!

So… we had to wait a few minutes for the sweet baby to stop sleeping like big sister – face down and booty to the sky – to find out that we’re having…

a boy!!

We are thrilled. I would have been thrilled with another girl too, but I hope that this one will be my buddy. Blair pretty much gives me the cold shoulder when daddy’s around.

Brad and I haven’t even discussed names at all. We didn’t talk names with Blair until we knew she was a girl. So that part is still to come. I hope naming our little boy will be as easy as naming Blair. I still adore her name, and it just came up out of the blue one day while I was looking through a name book. It was the first one I had suggested that Brad liked, and we got stuck on it. We’re so glad we did!

I guess I’ll spare the poor child and not show everyone his little boy parts, but here’s a great profile shot of our little one!

My very first blog post included a picture just like this of Blair. How time flies.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Last weekend was our church’s women’s conference. I came home from work that morning, got clean and changed, and headed right back out. I’m so glad I did. And it was the weirdest thing… I’m usually exhausted after working, but I was wide awake and thrilled to be there! Just part of God’s plan, I guess!

Our church’s praise team did an awesome job with the music.

Phyllis Foy was the speaker for the conference, which was themed “Fanning the Flame” from 2 Timothy 1:6-7. Phyllis is a missionary with the North American Mission Board. She and her husband have been to our church several times, and they are such a treat. Phyllis is such a great speaker. God uses her to really speak to her audience – and she’s hilarious in the process. She said someone called the Baptist State Convention and asked for “the comedienne.” She said, “couldn’t they have at least called me spiritual?!” So she’s the spiritual comedienne! They travel all over the country, so if she’s ever in your area, don’t miss it!

So charismatic in her stories!

In addition to “fanning the flame” she talked about leaving a legacy for your children – including letting them hear you pray for them, and leading by example with your quiet times. We have to fan the flame in our children!

I was so thankful for the message, and I had a great day. The fellowship with friends and the yummy food was an extra plus!

The fellowship hall was packed, so we enjoyed lunch outside on a gorgeous day.

The fellowship hall was beautifully decorated – they actually used the same décor that my friend Nicole used at her wedding two weeks ago.

We had several types of beautiful salads, sandwich wraps, and an assortment of mini cakes for dessert.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

This is a little late. I make notes constantly about things that you do, and with my schedule I’m slow getting them recorded on the “official” record that is this blog! You’re three and growing – not gaining much weight though. You weight a whopping 23 pounds! You are still the sweetest child we know. You are polite and thoughtful, yet hardheaded and independent. Your daddy and I look at each other and smile all the time at how sweet you are.

Here are some notes about you lately:

You recognize songs by their melody. You love KidSongs DVDs – especially Silly Songs, which you call “the yellow noobie.” You sing This Old Man and mix it with the Barney theme song. I find it fascinating that you realize they are sung to the same tune. This week people in Target couldn’t help but smile at you belting Skip to my Lou and Old McDonald.

You still like to clean. You’re not supposed to play with the soap in the laundry room, but I found you out there yesterday. Blair? “I’m cleaning up this mayess!” You had soap all over the window sill and the floor.

Your computer wouldn’t work. You troubleshot for a few seconds and said, “What’s wrong with this?!” Then you told me, “The computer’s not workin’ good. This blue one (button) is not workin’ good right here.” And then you shut it and moved on.

I brushed your teeth before giving you your allergy medicine and gummy – and of course they don’t taste right after brushing your teeth. You tasted the medicine (with juice in it) and said, “This juice is not any good. …I don’t want it.” You drank it with some encouragement, and then when eating the gummies, you told me “they stale.”

You wanted Gus and Buddy to watch you slide, so I sat them right there in front of it. You tell Gus you love him and that he’s a sweet boy. And you ride him!

“Mama/Dada, tell me don’t…” You are always wanting us to tell you not to do something – climb up the slide, put your feet on the bed rail, anything you can think of – it’s a game that you think is hilarious. Probably not the best for your minding us though!

You love things to match. Your M&M to your shirt. Your jammies to your daddies, your bow to your clothes, anything! You point out everything that matches!

You love the matching game!

”Mama, take our picture!”

You are really good at pretending.

You talk about “going bananas” all the time. Your daddy taught it too you, and you apply it to everything. And you shake things and say they’re wiggling.

You like talking about favorites. You’ll point something out and say “this is my favorite.” And you got some ornaments off of your Christmas tree in your room and laid them next to Gus, “These are Gus’s favorite.”

When we go outside, you collect pecans and have me crack them to feed to Gus.

You told me you fixed the brownie paper (the plastic wrap) and that you were eating “brownie polka dots” ie the crumbs in the pan (with a chair pulled up to the counter).

You still love to cook and sit on the counter helping me prepare something several times a week.

You nap from 1 to 4ish each day. You still drink pediasure mostly. We don’t really drink juice at all. You like water as well. You wear a diaper at night. You still wear a 2T in all clothes, but I believe we’ll be pushing it on the length before too much longer. The waist is the huge (literally) problem!

We just added Singulair to your meds, and I think it has helped. You also still do two steroid nebulizer breathing treatments a day.

You’re making great progress on your speech. After not too long of working on “d” you are saying it in all parts of the word. Same with “t.” Your therapist at the school was saying how well you were doing, and I told her that when we work on it at home, you do really well. I think she was shocked that we actually practice at home. I don’t know how else you would make progress – we only go there 30 minutes a week! We are still working on that stubborn “s." You say it, but it is like pulling teeth to get you to put it in a word.

That’s about that. I already have more notes to write – you just make us laugh all the time. We’re so thankful for you and your sweetness. And we never forget what a miracle you are!

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Child of God, wife of a farmer, mom to a miracle, RN; picture taker, animal lover, Spanish speaker, world traveler, former high school teacher. I love food, knitting, blogging, and living in a small town. I write about a little of all of the above!

Brad is my husband of 6 years and the reason I live across the branch. From a very young age he knew he'd be a farmer. God gave him the love and the talent -- and he's the best looking and the best dressed farmer I know! He's funny, creative, and he's the most wonderful husband and father. He's the one that can make Blair light up like no other.

Blair is four! We are so blessed to have her. She was born very sick, but God gave her strength and brought her through it. She has hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy and wears hearing aids. She also has chronic lung disease, but you wouldn't know by seeing her! She is the busiest, funniest little thing who keeps us laughing and on our toes. I thank God for her every day.

Leighton is the happy roly poly who joined our family this summer. He has been a joy and is as sweet as his big sister! He's such a blessing, and we're so thankful for him!